A wrongful death lawsuit alleges managers at the Tyson facility in Waterloo, Iowa, bet money on how many workers would catch COVID-19 during the early stages of the outbreak, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
The claim is part of a number of new allegations filed in an amendment to the initial lawsuit filed by the family of a worker who died of COVID-19 in April.
The lawsuit alleges that the facility downplayed and covered up the outbreak so workers would keep going in.
"Defendant Tom Hart, the Plant Manager of the Waterloo Facility, organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19," the amended court document alleged.
Among the other allegations made in the amended lawsuit include that, at the beginning of the pandemic, low-level supervisors who had little to no training were put in charge because managers avoided the plant as cases grew.
The lawsuit also claims that an upper-level manager explicitly said to ignore symptoms and referred to the virus as "glorified flu" that no one should worry about, according to the court documents seen by Business Insider.
The amended lawsuit also claims that the company rolled out a $500 bonus for employees who showed up for all scheduled shifts for three months as a means to get sick workers to keep coming in, according to the court documents.
The claim is part of a number of new allegations filed in an amendment to the initial lawsuit filed by the family of a worker who died of COVID-19 in April.
The lawsuit alleges that the facility downplayed and covered up the outbreak so workers would keep going in.
"Defendant Tom Hart, the Plant Manager of the Waterloo Facility, organized a cash buy-in, winner-take-all betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many employees would test positive for COVID-19," the amended court document alleged.
Among the other allegations made in the amended lawsuit include that, at the beginning of the pandemic, low-level supervisors who had little to no training were put in charge because managers avoided the plant as cases grew.
The lawsuit also claims that an upper-level manager explicitly said to ignore symptoms and referred to the virus as "glorified flu" that no one should worry about, according to the court documents seen by Business Insider.
The amended lawsuit also claims that the company rolled out a $500 bonus for employees who showed up for all scheduled shifts for three months as a means to get sick workers to keep coming in, according to the court documents.